WASHINGTON â€” The seasonally adjusted number of jobless claims in the week to October 17 rose 2.1 percent or 11,000 to 531,000 from the previous week’s revised figure of 520,000, the Labor Department said.

It was higher than the 515,000 forecast by most economists.

The four-week moving average, which smooths out week-to-week volatility, however fell slightly to 532,250 — a drop of 750 from the previous week’s revised average of 533,000.

(ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW)

The total number of Americans receiving unemployment benefits also shrank.

The Labor Department’s figures showed the number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending October 10 was was 5.923 million, a decrease of 98,000 from the preceding week’s revised level of 6.021 million.

A d v e r t i s e m e n t

The department also said the country’s insured unemployment rate was 4.5 percent, a decrease of 0.1 percentage point from the prior week’s revised rate of 4.6 percent.